This morning, Donald Trump called in to CNN for an interview, where he proceeded to blithely bend New Day anchor Chris Cuomo to his will for almost 19 minutes.
Ben Carson, a conservative politician known for speaking candidly but not at all delicately or even coherently, has a new bon mot for you: Prison makes people gay.
When discussing a tragedy involving massive loss of human life, it's natural to wonder when it becomes OK to make humor—say, some horrible, on-the-nose wordplay—part of the healing process. Some popular answers include "never" and "definitely not while you're still reporting from the scene of the disaster."
If you weren't tuned in to CNN at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night to witness the car wreck that was Chris Cuomo's insane interview with "vivacious, sexually adventurous, guitar-playing student" (and accused murderer) Amanda Knox—why? Why weren't you watching CNN? Were you doin' some sex stuff? Some kinda freaky sex stuff? Some freaky sex stuff like everybody says you like? 'Zat what gets you off? Sex? You like doing sex? Chris Cuomo will be arriving at your home shortly to grill you about your perversions.
Jeff Zucker, the flesh egg whose destruction of NBC earned him a job running CNN, has launched his reign of terror over the network: James Carville and Mary Matalin — gone! Erick Erickson — gone! Managing editor Mark Whitaker — gone! And lo: Chris Cuomo's silhouette appears on the horizon, ready to take on "a major role in a new CNN morning show and across the network."
Following his conviction in the webcam spy scandal that preceded gay Rutgers student Tyler Clementi's suicide, Dharun Ravi has broken his silence. "Energized" by the verdict, Ravi plans to fight his conviction. He maintains that he didn't commit a hate crime, and adds that he doesn't think he contributed to Clementi's death. "I was an insignificant part of his life," Ravi tells 20/20's Chris Cuomo in an interview that will air tonight. "That's what's giving me comfort now."
• There's a good chance you'll be seeing the cast of Jersey Shore in the tents at Fashion Week. (If, that is, you happen to be going to Fashion Week.) MTV's newest crop of reality stars have been asking to tickets to shows, and a few designers have extended invites to "to attend or even model." [P6]
• If you wanted to go to business school but didn't do so well on the GMATs, Diddy is here to help. He says he plans to open a business school in New York City in the near future. [Starpulse, Us]
• Michael Jackson's "personal physician," Dr. Conrad Murray, is expected to surrender to the authorities today in connection with charges he played a role in Jackson's death. He'll likely be charged with involuntary manslaughter, which could land him four years in jail. [TMZ]
• Perpetual brat Kanye West threw a fit while flying back to New York from LA when he was told he and his assistant would have to sit in business class, not first. The temper tantrum paid off, though: The airline found room for him in the front of the plane and the rest of the flight went off without a hitch. [P6]
• The New York Times is gearing up to cut another two dozen positions at the newspaper, but that's fewer than NYT execs were anticipating. [NYP]
• Cancellations: MTV has pulled the plug on Alexa Chung's daytime show; and HBO's Flight of the Conchords is finished after two seasons. [THR, Variety]
• Diane Sawyer and Chris Cuomo bid goodbye to GMA this morning. [ABC]
• NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker, who will remain in charge of NBC after Comcast takes control, has been signed up to a new three-year contract. [THR]
• Ex-Daily News editor Debby Krenek is Newsday's new editor-in-chief. [E&P]
• Stodgy Harvard Business Review is getting a sexy makeover! [NYT]
• Grim stat du jour: 367 magazines were shuttered in 2009. [Crain's]
• More on Dave Zinczenko, the laziest magazine editor alive. [Gawker, DF]
• Goodbyes: After 53 years on the air, CBS has canceled As the World Turns; meanwhile, the Bonnie Hunt Show won't be renewed after this season.
• JuJu Chang will take over for Chris Cuomo on Good Morning America. [NYP]
• Vevo, which is hoping to become the Hulu of music videos and is owned by Universal Music and Sony Music, made its debut today. [NYT, Reuters]
• Advertising is picking up again at the New York Times. Surprise! [AP, NYT]
• Related: The number of people who accepted Times buyouts has topped 50; tech reporter Saul Hansell is leaving the paper for AOL. And the Times is working with Google on a plan to "change the way news is consumed online."
• Bryant Gumbel revealed on Live with Regis and Kelly this morning that he has lung cancer and had surgery to remove a tumor two months ago. [NYP]
• Random House announced plans today to restructure its Crown Publishing Group; the division's publisher, Jenny Frost, is leaving the company. [NYT]
• Daily Variety has hired LAT veteran Leo Wolinsky as its new editor. [Variety]
• Will James Cameron's Avatar achieve Titanic-like success? Not so much. [AP]
• Diane Sawyer has confirmed that she will end her decade-long run as co-anchor of Good Morning America this week. Friday's her last day. [LAT]
• Meanwhile, Chris Cuomo's role at ABC is up in the air. He's denied rumors he plans to jump to NBC, and may end up as co-anchor of 20/20. [NYDN, prev]
• Today was the deadline for New York Times staffers to take the buyout package that was offered to employees last fall. A list of people expected to exit the paper in the near future is now making the rounds. [Gawker]
• NBC might be ranked fourth in the ratings, but Comcast says it has no plans to sell NBC Universal's broadcast TV business when it takes over. [AP]
• MTV's Jersey Shore is one of two new reality shows stirring up criticism; now Domino's Pizza has decided to pull its advertising from the show. [NYT, TVG]
• Oxygen is developing a new reality show with Russell Simmons that will "focus on the women in his life." That should be interesting. [THR]
• Is Nancy Grace responsible for pushing a woman to commit suicide? [AP]
• John Stossel is happier at Fox than he was at ABC, unsurprisingly. [TDB]
• The Blind Side surpassed New Moon at the box office this weekend. [MTV]
ABC announced last month that Diane Sawyer would depart Good Morning America at the end of the year to replace Charles Gibson as anchor of ABC's World News. Now we hear that the morning show's co-anchor, Chris Cuomo, is leaving the program as well. According to a well-placed source, Cuomo plans to move over to 20/20, taking over for John Stossel who left ABC in September to join Fox News and Fox Business.
Just when you were hoping that you'd be spared any more detail about Bernie Madoff's anatomy, comes, yes, more uncomfortable info about the fraudster's bedroom behavior courtesy of his former mistress, Sheryl Weinstein. Yesterday, we heard that Madoff's penis "would fit easily inside the opening of a single-serving honey jar that sits on a hotel room service breakfast tray." Today, Weinstein appeared on Good Morning America to tell Chris Cuomo that Madoff was a good kisser. ("Just what I wanted to know about him," responds Cuomo.) She also explains why she felt the need to write the humiliating memoir. She says she did it to "make things up" to her family. A simple "I'm sorry" greeting card wouldn't do? [Dealbreaker]
Tubby peacenik Michael Moore took to the airwaves this morning to decry the media's coverage of Iraq in the run-up to the war. Lighting into "Good Morning America" anchor Chris Cuomo, the ample activist blamed ABC and the other networks for failing to ask the tough questions. A visibly annoyed Cuomo pulled the "my anchor got blowed up" card in defense. It's a nice bit of television: Whether you come down on the side of Moore or the side of the media, it allows you to dislike both of them equally.
